May
the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your
sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. AMEN.
If
you drive outside of Goodland West on 8th Street and turn left or
South right before you go off on the dirt road, you will drive past two very
important places. First you will drive
past the Ethanol Plant that is being built and next you will drive past the Sunflower
plant that processes the seed. For most,
these two locations might be an eye sore or currently or in the future will smell
funny, but for others, they mean business and money here in Northwest Kansas,
whether from the development of each or the opportunity that will come when
complete. What is ironic is that both
the ethanol plant and sunflower plant revolve around one commodity that even in
Jesus day was very important. It was
oil, but for Jesus it was olive oil, like is used when cooking. In our day and time, crude oil which is
pumped from the ground even here in Northwest Kansas from decaying fossils and
it is for some countries and cultures the end all be all. Everything relies upon it from our clothes,
cars and even our commodities. But there
is another application for oil here in the church, not crude oil, but olive oil
in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.
When
in Israel there were numerous Olive groves throughout the country that not only
provided great eating, but also opportunity to see first-hand olive
presses. If you were to walk down the
aisle at Wal-Mart, you can find many different types of olive oil, from low
grade olive oil, to virgin olive oil and extra-virgin olive oil. Each grade is dependent upon how it was
extracted. Low grade olive oil needs to
be crushed from the olives and the higher grade oil, known as ‘extra-virgin’
naturally when placed in the press needs no crushing action to extract the oil
that is the finest and purest. When
traded in Jesus day it would be the most expensive and used in most ointments
and perfumes because it was not crushed or bruised in its preparation.
The
extra-virgin olive oil connects us with baptism because of its use even today. When we baptize and pour Water and Word over
an individual and offer life and salvation and eternal life, we receive God’s
greatest blessing. And this blessing not
only comes in Baptism, but we are reminded of this with the oil used to anoint
as part of the rite of Baptism. When
baptized, special extra-virgin olive oil that has been blessed is used to make
the sign of the cross over the persons head and heart as an additional reminder
that we are signed, sealed and delivered to Jesus Christ through our baptism
into His life death and resurrection.
With this additional element of the rite we are reminded of God’s
continued promises.
Not
only at baptism, but when children come and receive the blessing at the Lord’s
Supper it is a reminder of their being signed by the Cross of Christ
forever. For children this is a tangible
way to remind them of God’s continued promises for them and their anticipation
of receiving the Lord’s Supper. Not only
at the Lord’s Supper, but also for all of us on Ash Wednesday when we came
forward and the sign of the cross is made over our foreheads, it reminds us
that dust we are and to dust we shall return.
And the extra-virgin olive oil used to make the ash is an additional
reminder of God’s anointing upon our lives and God’s continuous involvement
with each of us every day.
And
the connection is even more tangible for the sick, whether at home, the
hospital or on their death bed, for oil for anointing is used with prayers and
hymns and spiritual songs to anoint persons who are sick and in need of the
reminder of God’s Promises made in their Holy Baptism. For this is the nature of God to remind us in
many and various ways of how God offers us life and salvation and even connects
us to the liturgical actions in the sacraments through the simple use of
extra-virgin olive oil.
For
the gifts offered unto us are clear and unmistakable, they are of life and
salvation and the greatest reminder of our healing that we will receive in our
entrance into heaven. We humans think
only of the here and now, but God looks to the eternal, for with the oil of gladness
and our reminder with the oil of anointing we are reminded of God’s promises
for all eternity.
With
our being anointed with oil we will be forever healed, because of God’s
anointing us over our head and heart as a reminder of our baptism into His
life, death and resurrection. Those are
the promises that God makes and fulfills and when we are anointed with oil,
reminded of clearly and unmistakably in this simple action. These are the promises of God that are made
to and for us and signed with the olive oil that anoints our head and heart and
reminds us of when we were baptized. For
God fulfills His promises of the Gospel that is for all of mankind, but especially
all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel that have been anointed with oil as
a reminder of our eternal healing through Jesus Christ. AMEN.
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